4/19 – Day 12 – Fuller Ridge
It is 8:30 PM and I’m at 8500 feet high atop Fuller Ridge in the San Jacinto Mountains. I left Idyllwild at about 8 AM this morning and hiked back up several thousand feet and five miles to get back to the PCT. After a day of rest I feel good but my feet blisters still hurt. I hiked long and hard for about another 14 miles. At about mile 13 I started heading down the steep northern facing slope of the mountain with a good deal of snow. It was a little dangerous; it was getting dark and I was worried I would not find any flat ground to camp. At 6:45 I found a nice camp site, set up the tent and made chicken fajitas, yum. I did not meet a single PCT hiker today. I met a trail runner, that’s my hobby and I was envious of the beautiful place he gets to run. There were a handful of people hiking around the top of the mountain who had come up the tram from Palm Springs. I met a guy backpacking with bunch of kids. He was super interested in my hike as he hopes to hike the PCT some day. All in all a good day. In the future I would prefer to make camp earlier. Tomorrow I head down, down, down and cross the 10 just west of Palm Springs. That is going to be hard on my feet. Time to sleep.
